Lungs & Respiration

In the modern United Kingdom, about 12 percent of all normal, healthy, full-term babies are hospitalized at least once in their first 8 months of life. Many of these hospitalizations are for pneumonia…

The percentage of people with asthma has doubled in the last decade, and quadrupled since 1973. Asthma has become the most common chronic medical condition in children. To help those with asthma, alle…

In just a few hours, I will be boarding another airplane. Typically, commercial airplanes fly at an altitude of about 38,000 feet. The cabin is pressurized to make it safe and comfortable at that extr…

What can take otherwise vibrant, healthy teens and permanently give them the lung capacities of 50-year-olds? Air pollution! Perhaps spare the air days should be called spare the children days. The ai…

We all want to help a coughing child. But a big difference looms between what should happen and what does happen when kids have bronchitis and other cough illnesses. Even though overall antibiotic use…

There has never been a better time to be sure your asthma is under control. With a proper treatment plan, most asthma symptoms can be prevented or minimized. Uncontrolled, the linings of the airways i…

Definition: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a serious form of pneumonia, resulting in acute respiratory distress and sometimes death. It is a dramatic example of how quickly world travel c…

Introduction to wheezing: Our airways are designed to be responsive to harmful substances in the air. If we walk through clouds of smoke, our airways will shrink, protecting our delicate lung tissues …

Introduction to bronchiolitis: Worried parents stand over the crib, listening to their baby cough and struggle to breathe. He may have bronchiolitis. Most parents have heard of pneumonia or bronchitis…

We know that children who live in areas with excess air pollution have higher rates of asthma and other lung diseases. A study presented at the November 2001 annual meeting of the Radiological Society…

We know what to do, but we are not doing it! Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs. Inflammation can cause ongoing damage. Albuterol helps children breath better for the moment, but do…

The 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta provided a unique opportunity for CDC researchers to study the link between automobile traffic, air quality, and asthma. To minimize Atlanta traffic, the city …

In the Northern Hemisphere it's the season for respiratory illnesses. Children with RSV bronchiolitis usually wheeze. Often these same children go on to develop asthma. My hunch has been that RSV does…

Dr. Greene's Answer: Pertussis, or whooping cough, which once ravaged children around the world, is again on the rise. Worldwide, about 300,000 people die from the disease each year. Global travel can…

Dr. Greene's Answer: I stood outside the closed door of the hospital room where an adorable 6-week-old baby lay all alone in her crib. As I scrubbed my hands in the sink outside the isolation room, an…

Dr. Greene's Answer: Almost all adults are susceptible to pertussis, or whooping cough. Between 60 and 80 percent of infants are protected after the first 3 doses of vaccine, but this protection begin…